April Wine brings sweet memories of Michigan to 2013 Bay City River Roar

BAY CITY, MI — Returning to Michigan reminds April Wine’s Brian Greenway of more than the need to bring a light jacket.

“Today, I have a long-sleeved shirt on, you know,” said the Canadian rock band’s guitarist and singer, calling from Montreal to talk about performing Friday, June 21, with Night Ranger and Blue Oyster Cult at Veterans Memorial Park during the 2013 Bay City River Roar.

But it was a documentary on WWCK-FM, 105, “Flint’s Best Rock, The Movie,” that brought back a flood of memories.

“Jeff Holbrook, who was there when 105 was the epitome of FM rock, was one of the first to play our music in the ‘70s, and that’s when we broke in the states,” Greenway said. “It was interesting watching it 40 years later, seeing everybody again.”

Holbrook was on to something. Even though April Wine never reached the status of Led Zeppelin or the Who, hits such as “Weeping Widow,” “You Could Have Been a Lady” and “Roller” are still in rotation on classic rock stations in the states and Canada.

And people come around to see them, drawn by the constant airplay.

“It’s kind of like the circle of life, except we don’t die so easy,” said Greenway, at one time the band’s newcomer, joining April Wine soon after it headlined a concert at Toronto’s El Mocambo opened by a band called the Cockroaches.

When the audience realized the Cockroaches were really the Rolling Stones, it became one for rock’s history books.

Now Greenway and founding singer/songwriter Myles Goodwyn tour with drummer Roy Nichol and bass player Richard Lanthier, a line-up that he says will head into the studio to record the hard rock edge they’ve again discovered.

“It’s quite rocky; we went a little soft in our last couple recordings,” Greenway admitted. “Part of it comes when you bring in new people with new ideas. But we also have more places to play now, the outdoor shows like the River Roar and the more intimate shows at the theaters and casinos.

“I love it all, when the people sing the words back to us, and when they just sit back and listen.”

The only way they’ll stop now, he said, is if Myles steps away, taking the distinctive voice that has defined April Wine since 1969.

“I’m going to be 62 this fall, and I’m in better shape than ever,” Greenway said. “I can’t get away with the stuff I once did, the partying and all, but the music keeps bringing us back. The music is the foundation of it all.”

The River Roar concert begins at 6 p.m. Tickets, available at Graff Chevrolet, 3636 E. Wilder in Bay City, Rico’s Authentic Mexican Take Out, 2720 Bay in Saginaw Township and online at riverroar.com, cost $25 for general admission and $35 for VIP.